Water Dyed Red
by MyObsessionWithFiction
Summary: It's time for the third quarter quell. Katniss and Peeta are sent into the horrible arena once again, but this time they face a new threat. An hour they have never faced before. Will this threat bring them closer together, or tear them farther apart? May the odds be ever in your favor


Katniss's thoughts are _Italicized_

 ***Set before they found out about the clock***

The arena is somewhat similar to the last Hunger Games. They have a vast forest, so we'll probably be able to find some type of food. The difference though is they have a giant body of water surrounding the center of the arena. I haven't been back there since the beginning, when the tubes placed me there, surrounded by water. During the fight for weapons at the cornucopia, I found Peeta and we managed to escape into the forest. Now my only objective is to keep Peeta safe.

As we're walking through the forest, I can feel the blazing sun burning down on me. I look to see the sun high in the sky. I'm guessing it's around noon.

"Peeta, we should split up and look for food and fre…" I'm interrupted by a flash of lightning hitting a nearby tree. I wait for more lightning to come, but it suddenly stops. _That's odd, why would there only be one flash of lightning? Why did it only hit that tree? Was there some significance to that lightning?_ These thoughts swarm in my head as I try to process what happened.

"Anyway, just meet back here in an hour, we'll see how much food we collect and go from there," I instruct.

As I walk through the dense trees, I begin to realize something is wrong. I don't see any animals living here. The trees are all lush and healthy, so it's not a bad habitat. There has to be something here that the animals don't like or are afraid of. Dread starts to pour into my stomach and I know something bad is going to happen. I race back to our meeting spot, hoping that I'll find Peeta there.

When I arrive there, I see nobody. Suddenly I feel something fall on my hand. I look down to see a dot of red. I crane my neck to see if I can find the source. Just then more droplets started to fall from the sky along with a very familiar scent. My eyes widen in realization and I feel my stomach churn at the very thought. _IT'S BLOOD_.

"Peeta!" I scream into the dense woods. I run toward the direction I last saw Peeta. As I continue running, I feel the blood pounding heavily on me. The blood starts to pour down on me until all I see is red.

"Katniss!" I hear a voice shout.

"Peeta, where are you? I can't see!" I panic.

"Katniss, don't worry. Just follow my voice."

I slowly walk forward and reach out my hand, hoping to find his familiar warmth. I feel something warm envelop my hand and tighten its grip. I suddenly feel my arm being yanked, and the next thing I know, I'm being dragged forward.

"What are you….." 'HURK'. I can't even finish my sentence, as an overwhelming taste of copper enters my mouth. I feel my stomach flip as I try to spit out the vile liquid, but with no luck as more blood falls down. The only response I get to my question is one word, "Beach."

I feel like we've been running aimlessly, until the liquid is no longer pouring down. I raise my hand to my face to try and wipe the blood from my eyes. I see water in front of me and immediately run toward it, engulfing my body. The blood starts to wash away but the scent still lingers. I see Peeta come up from behind me and start to wash the blood off too. We sit in silence until I hear a stomach growl.

"I'll go gather some wood," I inform Peeta, "You try and find some fish."

I hesitantly make my way to the forest edge. When I peer through the trees, I see no signs of blood. _I wonder when it stopped?_ I see a pile of twigs not too far from where I'm standing, so I decide to venture in and grab them. After a while we managed to get a fire going, and started cooking the fish.

The rest of the day was uneventful, as we both decided to stay at the beach. _I had enough "fun" for one day._ As night approaches I wait for the familiar Panem anthem, and watch to see how many victors died today. As the images fade from the sky, I turn to Peeta and say, "Thank you."

"For what?" He asks.

"For earlier, thank you for leading me out."

"It was no big deal. I can't have my teammate die, now can I?" He jokingly says.

I smile at his response, but something hurts inside.

"I'll take the first watch, get some rest," He whispers to me.

I close my eyes and soon my tiredness washes over me. Before I succumb to sleep, one thought enters my mind. _We're really only teammates, huh. Well I can't complain, that's what I want, right?"_


End file.
